Medieval juristic regulae: unity or disunity?

Abstract

Summary This article is dedicated to the regulae iuris in general, and their role in medieval jurisprudence in particular. After providing a survey of the state-of-the-art literature on regulae and discussions surrounding them, the article provides arguments in support of the thesis that the use of existing regulae and the creation of new ones were an integral part of the method of medieval jurisprudence, itself part of the general medieval dialectical method of reasoning. The article also discloses the parameters and interesting preliminary results of an ongoing research project on regulae iuris in the University of Ghent.